Paula Radcliffe's reign as ING New York City Marathon champion ended on Sunday as the British world record holder placed fourth behind Ethiopian veteran Deratu Tulu.

After six months on the sidelines recovering from bunion surgery, Radcliffe, 35, was running her first marathon since winning this race 12 months ago.

She had missed the world championship marathon in Berlin in August and then sat out the world half-marathon championships in Birmingham last month due to tonsilitis.

In windy conditions the Briton had led from the gun but the relatively slow pace meant she had been unable to shake off her rivals.

And, at 23 miles, she was dropped from the leading quartet as Russia's Ludmila Petrova took off followed by Tulu and France's Christelle Daunay.

Two-time Olympic 10,000 metres champion Tulu, 37, first shook off Daunay and then the dogged Petrova as she turned for home at the 26-mile mark and won the race in two hours 28 minutes and 52 seconds, eight seconds ahead of the Russian with Daunay third in 2:29:16 holding off a late Radcliffe rally, the Briton finishing fourth in 2:29:27

There was a milestone victory in the men's race as Meb Keflezighi became the first American since Alberto Salazar in 1982 to win in New York, shaking off four-time Boston champion Robert Cheruiyot over the three miles to take victory in a personal best 2:09.15.

Cheruiyot, from Kenya, clocked 2:09:56 with two-time world champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco third in 2:10:25 and another American, Ryan Hall fourth in 2:10:36, six Americans in total populating the men's top 10.

Radcliffe had taken up a familiar position at the head of the women's field as soon as the race got under way, flanked by French national record holder Daunay with Japan's Yuri Kano and 2008 runner-up Petrova on their shoulders as they crossed the Verrazano Bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn.

Her front-running immediately split the elite women's field of 29 runners into two groups, Radcliffe heading a 13-woman group through the first mile in six minutes and 20 seconds

By the second mile, the lead group had been reduced to eight, Boston Marathon champion Salina Kosgei of Kenya, Deratu Tulu and Meseret Kotu of Ethiopia and US Olympian Magdalena Lewy Boulet also in the pack.

There was early drama as Kosgei tripped during the long stretch along Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue between the third and fourth mile markers, taking Kano down with her and Boulet taking evasive action.

Kosgei was quickly back on her feet and did not lose much ground but Kano regained her footing more gingerly and lost touch with Radcliffe and the leaders as they went through the five-kilometre mark in 17:55 at 5:45.57 pace.

As they went through 10 kilometres in 35:15, Radcliffe's pace has also seen Kotu fall away from the leaders and the gap between the first and second women's groups was at 29 seconds.

Radcliffe was still looking extremely comfortable at the halfway stage with Daunay, Kosgei, Petrova and Tulu still in close attendance while Boulet had slipped off the back of the lead group as the leaders crossed the Pulaski Bridge from Brooklyn into Queens.

The time of 1:14:05 was slower than last year but Radcliffe had gone on to win her previous three New York starts having led at halfway, although the pace was suiting her rivals.

In the past Radcliffe had used the three and a half mile stretch up 1st Avenue to drop some of her potential rivals but this time there was no significant surge and the front five stayed together until they crossed into the Bronx when Kosgei dropped off the back, perhaps feeling the effects of her earlier fall.

Coming out of the Bronx and into Manhattan as the leaders approached the closing stages in Central Park, Radcliffe was still heading the quartet but Tulu's strong finishing pace was coming into the equation with every pace.

It was Petrova, though, who pushed her way into the front approaching mile 23 and Radcliffe appeared to be struggling as she fell to the back of the pack. A small gap emerged as the other three pushed on behind the Russian and Radcliffe fell away from the lead for the first time on the streets of New York.

Radcliffe fell seven seconds behind as Petrova pushed Tulu and Daunay through 24 miles before the Frenchwoman was dropped and the race turned into a two-woman contest over the rolling hills of the park.

Tulu and Petrova were still locked together but as they turned into the final straight at 26 miles, the Ethiopian made her move and kicked for home to open up a sizeable gap on her Russian rival.

With 300m to go, the race was Tulu's and she crossed the line with arms aloft.

Daunay's struggles seemed to inspire a rally from Radcliffe, who began to gradually close the distance between fourth and third place, only for the Frenchwoman to dig deep again and hold on, Radcliffe crossing line in obvious discomfort.